Don't Judge a Book
by angelalexandra
Summary: Requested by emoprinces16. Danielle Phoenix has always lived a life on the outside looking in. Now she has the lead role in the school musical and has to share the spotlight with high school superstar, Kendall Knight. Will she be able to work together with someone who represented everything that she was against or is she judging a book by its cover?


**This was requested by emoprinces16. I hope that you like it!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Big Time Rush and its characters or the OC character, that belongs to emoprinces16 :)**

* * *

'_Life isn't about how to survive the storm but how to dance in the rain.'_

This was a quote that Danielle Phoenix learnt and lived by. One of her favourite artists said that quote at a concert and she held it true and dear to her heart. That is why Danielle found herself spinning around in the middle of her street during the pouring rain. Her long layered and wavy brown hair clung to her skin keeping her cool with the rain droplets. She looked up into the dark grey sky with her brown eyes and smiled. She always loved the rain, the smell of it when it had just fallen making the world feel like a rainforest, the cool breeze that blows just before the clouds appear. Everything about the rain, even a storm, just makes her feel at peace.

Some people think that she was a little odd for doing this but she didn't care. She may look like the outsider in school with her black pleated skirt that she always wore with a leather jacket and black converse but she had her best friend, music, by her side and that was all she needed. All she needed until high school finished that is.

"You're going to catch a cold if you continue standing out here."

Danielle spun around to find her annoying neighbour and jerk of high school, Kendall Knight, standing behind her holding an umbrella. The pair had been neighbours since they were in primary school but they never really conversed except for when Kendall and his gang would hold massive parties next door and Danielle would gate crash and told them they were too loud and told them where to go.

"Why do you care?" Danielle demanded, crossing her arms over her chest.

"I care because I don't want my co-star getting me sick on opening night."

"I beg your pardon?"

"You heard me. Miss Charlene assigned you the part as Charlotte in the school musical. If you were in drama today, you would know that."

Danielle scoffed at Kendall's annoyance.

"Well I tend not to stick around in a class that is filled with you and your groupies. I actually want to learn and not rub your ego."

"Like it or not, Phenoix, but we are not love interests. You can chose whether in the musical or in reality."

"Go jump into a pit full of snakes!" Danielle yelled before storming back inside her house and slamming the door behind her.

Once inside the safety of her house, Danielle leant up against the front door and released a breath that she didn't know she was holding. Could Kendall really be telling her the truth? Was she really going to play the lead in a musical where she had to pretend to be in love with that egotistical jerk? Okay, maybe pretend to be in love with him was an understatement. Since she was in middle school, Danielle had a massive crush on Kendall. No one knew about it and even she denied it a few times but she couldn't help it. The way his muscles showed through everything he wore, even his letterman jacket, the way his eyes were a gorgeous green colour that pierced anyone's soul just from a look. To be perfectly honest Danielle lost her nerve around Kendall and always felt her heart skip a beat. That was why she always gave him the cold shoulder. She knew he was a jerk but for some reason her heart didn't care so she used anger, sarcasm and jokes to keep people, especially him, at arms length. Call it her body's way of protecting her heart. Danielle had a tendency to wear her heart on her sleeve and she wasn't prepared to get it shattered by the jerk that she claims to be in love with.

* * *

"Miss Phoenix, thank you for gracing us with your presence today," Miss Charlene said sarcastically, when Danielle entered the auditorium the next day.

"Thank you for that wonderful greeting!" Danielle replied with the same sarcasm.

"Let's start with scene 13 today," Miss Charlene instructed.

A few of the 'popular' girls squealed in the seats when one of them with long blonde hair stood up and sauntered over to the stage with her script.

"I would like to dedicate this to my hubby. This is for you, Kenny," the blonde winked.

Kendall's three best friends laughed and started teasing the boy in the seat. This caused Danielle to roll her eyes.

"Jo, just get on with it."

"More like she wants to get it on with Kendall," Danielle whispered to herself.

Jo rolled her eyes at the teacher and started over dramatising her lines like she was on a broad-way theatre.

"My darling, my heart beats for you. You are in love with the simpleton but you should love me! You are all that I can think about, all that I yearn for but you never notice. The winds are blowing me towards you and I need you to meet with me."

"I can tell you where the winds are blowing right now," Danielle said aloud, causing Jo to stop.

"Excuse me?" Jo huffed, hand on her hip. "What are you talking about, reject?"

Danielle laughed at Jo's attitude and stood up from her seat.

"Sorry, wasn't I clear enough? I meant to say that we should all be gasping for breath right now because there is not enough air with your ego flying about."

The guys in the audience started laughing and shouting 'burn' towards Jo. Even Kendall was laughing quietly at Danielle's comment.

"Are you going to let her talk to me like that, Miss Charlene?" Jo asked in shock.

"Miss Pheonix, I will not tolerate your brash attitude in my class," Miss Charlene said tiredly.

"That's it?" Jo shrieked.

"You were overacting, Miss Taylor," the teacher added.

Jo growled in annoyance and stormed off stage and sat in her seat, her friends comforting her to the best of their abilities.

"Miss Pheonix and Mr Knight, please go through scene 23."

"What!?" Danielle yelled. "I am seriously paired up with that?"

"Isn't that what I told you yesterday?" Kendall smirked, walking on stage.

"Shut it before I make you shut it!" Danielle growled.

"What's with all of the hostility, Pheonix? Got something to hide?" Kendall taunted.

Miss Charlene sighed in annoyance and stared rubbing her temples, feeling a headache forming. This became a usual occurrence in her classroom. Kendall and his gang would act all high and mighty causing Danielle to break in annoyance and start giving them all a piece of her mind. Not long after would Miss Charlene have to break them all up and finish the class early just to give herself some peace and quiet. Sadly the musical wasn't far away and she couldn't afford to end class early so she decided to them go at it and hopefully tire themselves out.

"Why would you care?"

"I don't but your attitude and sarcasm is a dead giveaway that you are protecting something."

"Yeah, I am protecting my brain from becoming an airheaded barbie like your precious girlfriend, Jo Taylor, and her groupies."

"Hey!" Jo's entourage screeched.

"She's not my girlfriend," Kendall yelled, ignoring the girls in the seats.

"What?!" Jo shrieked. "What are you saying, Kenny?"

"My name is Kendall and we were never going out!" Kendall yelled to Jo.

"Finally, you get a backbone!" Kendall's friend, James, called out.

"Enough!" Miss Charlene yelled. "I was hoping that you all would tire yourselves out but clearly I was mistaken. Pheonix, Knight, go backstage and sought out whatever the hell is going on between you two and them come back to sing the final number. While they do that, Diamond, I want you to do your scene."

Danielle growled in annoyance as she stormed off stage, with Kendall following in pursuit. 'Brilliant', she thought. Not only was she forced to be a love interest with Kendall, now she had to actually talk to him like a human being. It's not like he ever treated her like one. Danielle practically flew the backstage door open and walked into one of the dressing rooms, sitting on the couch inside waiting for Kendall. The guy walked in shortly after and closed the door behind him, leaning against the wall. Silence fell upon the two as they waited for the other to break it. After a couple of minutes Kendall decided to break it.

"You are a real piece of work, you know that?" Kendall said.

"Excuse me?"

"I have been living next door to you for years and you have never bothered to get to know me."

Danielle scoffed. "It's not like you ever did. It's a two way street, Knight."

"What about all those times that I invited you to my parties? You declined them and then gate crash to tell us to shut up and go home."

"I declined them because the people that go are the ones that treat me like dirt at school, one of which is your girlfriend, and you do the same."

"Jo Taylor is not my girlfriend."

"So you claim and yet you let her kiss you, touch you, god only knows what you do."

"And I don't treat you like dirt!"

"Of course you do!" Danielle said, standing up from the couch angrily. "You walk around the school with your buddies like you own the place and you never once greeted anyone outside of your social circle. You may star quarterback on the football team and be captain of the soccer team but there are other people that go to this school."

"Oh really? You think that you have me all figured out, do you?"

Danielle didn't respond and just settled for shrugging her shoulders. Kendall laughed in disbelief at Danielle's opinion.

"Well since you clearly have no idea who the hell I am, let me enlighten you."

"Oh do tell," Danielle replied with sarcasm.

"I was born in Minnesota and lived with my mum and little sister. My dad left us for a younger woman, his secretary in case you were wondering."

"I wasn't."

"My family and I then moved out here to LA so that I could pursue my dream of music. My friends, Carlos, Logan, and James, and I are in a band and we are currently hoping to get a recording deal. We do nothing except go to school, work, and practice. That is why we never hang out with other people unless it is convenient because we are so busy. People at this school treat me like the King and everyone's leader but I don't like it. I hate it, actually. I hate being known as the jerk at this school by people who don't know me, and I hate being treated like the popular guy by those who pretend to know me. The only people that treat me normally are my three best friends. I love sitting at home and playing guitar. On my weekends off I take my sister, Katie, to her ice skating lessons and then take her out for ice cream. At night I help my mum around the house and take up the role that my father abandoned. I treat people with respect but clearly I don't get it in return because all people can see is the letterman jacket and not the person who wears it."

Danielle went quiet after Kendall's little outburst. She had no idea that he had a reasonably tough life. His father abandoned him when he was a kid and now he took up the role as man of the house since then. She didn't realise that he actually had a soul.

"You aren't any better, Danielle," Kendall continued. "You judge my friends and I and think that we are the jerks when you are the jerk for judging us before you get to know us. I am the guitar loving, down to Earth guy. My friend Logan dreams of becoming a doctor if the music thing doesn't work out so he spends every waking moment that he has studying for the medical exam for college. Carlos' parents both work extremely hard for him because they never got the same education that he had so he never sees his parents. He doesn't have any siblings so most of the time he is left alone at home. James may come across as self absorbed, and he can be, but he has a heart of gold. He volunteers at the preschool to brighten the kids' day. Did you know about any of this, Danielle? No, because all you saw and all you wanted to see was the letterman jacket and you were quick to judge and quick to hate us. You are a hypocrite. You call us jerks when really you are the jerk for judging everyone around you."

"How dare you!" Danielle yelled in anger, and she stormed up to Kendall and got right in his face. "How dare you call me a jerk! Ever since you moved next door I tried to be nice to you but you were always in a hurry and didn't care who got in your way. Did you know that I sat next to you every day throughout middle school? Did you know that I shared my lunch with you in primary school? No! I have tried being friendly with everyone at this school but they all ditch and avoid me because of the way I dress or the scar on my face or the rumours that they spread!"

Before Danielle could continue her angry rant, she was cut off by a pair of soft lips crashing down on hers causing her to swallow her words. She gasped at the feeling and before she could react, they quickly pulled away and she was left staring up into Kendall's eyes. He held either side of her face with his hands, forcing her to look into his eyes.

"I have noticed, Danielle Phoenix. I noticed that you sat next to me in class every day of every year throughout high school wearing the same blue panda shirt with your black shorts and black DC comic converse shoes. I noticed you chewing your pencil every day trying to work out fractions. I know that you shared your lunch with me in primary school, taking out half of your peanut butter sandwich from your hello kitty lunch box and giving it to me because some bullies stole my lunch. I noticed you grew your hair out and got the layers cut in just before we started high school. It's true that I may not know your mother's first name, or if you wore braces and I have no idea why you dress the way you do. But I like it. I do know the curves of your face. And I know every fleck of brown in your eyes that change colour depending on your dress and mood. I know that you wear black rimmed glasses that you hate to wear and keep them hidden during class, especially when you're acting. I know that you keep people at arms length with your sarcasm and jokes to protect yourself. I have known that all along but I didn't care because I knew, or hoped, that someday you would trust someone, someone like me. From the moment I met you, Danielle, I have admired you from afar and have dreamt nothing else except the feeling of kissing you. I have had a massive crush on you for years but I never had the guts to say anything."

To say that Danielle was shocked was an understatement. Kendall remembered every little detail about her and she never realised. She completely forgot that she had a hello kitty lunch box or that she chewed on her pencil when she couldn't figure something out. Small tears began forming in her eyes and she tried to will them away but Kendall's amazing words forced them to silently roll down her cheeks. Kendall smiled at seeing Danielle's walls slowly break before him and he used his thumbs to wipe them away.

"You had a crush on me?" Danielle whispered in disbelief.

"I have a crush on you and I think that I'm falling for you, Danielle Phoenix."

Danielle let out a small laugh in shock and slowly placed her hands over Kendall's that still covered her cheeks.

"I have had a massive crush on you since middle school, Kendall. But I was so scared about it, especially now in high school because I thought you believed everyone else, that I was a reject and social outcast. So I kept you away to protect myself from getting hurt by you."

"I would never hurt you, Danielle. I promise you that. You have always been on my mind."

No more words needed to be said as the pair of them leant in and crushed their lips against each other again. The kiss was gentle at first but soon it became deeper when Kendall's hands left Danielle's face and one arm wrapped around her waist pulling her closer while the other threaded through her hair. Danielle responded by wrapping her arms around Kendall's neck. Danielle gasped a little when she felt Kendall back her up against the wall. He smirked when he heard the reaction he got and continued to kiss her. Before things got too intense Danielle pulled away and leant her forehead against Kendall's, allowing them to catch their breath.

"Knight! Phoenix! Get out here and perform the final song!" Miss Charlene yelled from outside.

"We should...probably...get out there," Danielle said, still panting a little.

"Yeah, we probably should," Kendall agreed.

Danielle tried to remove herself from Kendall's grasp but he gently held onto her wrist gaining her attention.

"Go steady with me," Kendall said.

"What?"

"You heard me," he smirked. "I want no one else, but you."

"Nothing would make me happier," Danielle replied, placing a kiss on Kendall's cheek before heading back onto the stage.

* * *

"Finally!" Miss Charlene said, seeing the pair walk back out on stage. "I hope that you both have put aside your petty differences for the sake of the musical and my sanity."

Danielle blushed and nodded her head.

"Brilliant! Dancers on stage, and Kendall and Danielle get into positions. Play back!"

As the opening music began playing, Danielle and the female dancers got into their first positions.

_Danielle: Ever ever after_

_Storybook endings, fairy tales coming true  
Deep down inside we want to believe they still do  
And a secret is taught, it's our favorite part of the story  
Let's just admit we all want to make it too_

_Ever ever after  
If we just don't get it our own way  
Ever ever after  
It may only be a wish away_

_Kendall: Starting your fashion, wear your heart on your sleeve_

Danielle laughed quietly to herself seeing the little dig that Kendall made when he winked at her.

_Kendall: Sometimes you reach what's real just by making believe  
Unafraid, unashamed  
There is joy to be claimed in this world  
You even might wind up being glad to be you_

_Both: Ever ever after  
Though the world will tell you it's not smart  
Ever ever after  
The world can be yours if you let your heart  
Believe in ever after_

Danielle smiled at Kendall's amazing voice. She had no idea that he was so great. No wonder he started a band with his best friends. She couldn't wait to hear them sing one day.

_Danielle: No wonder your heart feels it's flying  
Your head feels it's spinning  
Kendall: Each happy ending's a brand new beginning  
Danielle: Let yourself be enchanted, you just might break through_

_Both: To ever ever after  
Danielle: Forever could even start today  
Both: Ever ever after  
Danielle: Maybe it's just one wish away  
Both: Your ever ever after  
Ever, ever, ever after_

_Danielle: I've been dreaming of a true love's kiss  
Both: Oh, forever ever after_

Kendall and Danielle finished the song by staring into each other's eyes. They barely noticed the sound of applause coming from the audience or the praise that Miss Charlene was giving them for a very 'realistic' performance. They didn't notice that the class had ended and that they were the only ones left in the auditorium.

"True love's kiss?" Kendall teased.

"True love's kiss." Danielle agreed smiling widely for the first time in years.

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**There you have it! Another one-shot! Thanks to emoprinces16 for the request and I hope that I did you proud :)**

**I hope that you all enjoyed reading this one-shot as much as I enjoyed writing it! Please R/R. If you have a request for a one-shot, send me a PM :)**

**~AngelAlexandra~**


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